The Seton Hall Pirates opened up a 3 game weekend series in Tucson, Arizona against the #22 Arizona Wildcats with a 9-1 victory. The Pirates ace RHP Josh Prevost faced off against the Wildcats’ RHP James Farris. Prevost turned in another masterful performance, going 8 innings while striking out 7 and scattering 5 hits. Prevost improves to 3-0 with wins over Richmond, Oklahoma, and Arizona. Seton Hall continued the glorious trend of scoring in the 1st inning by putting up 4 runs on the board. Designated hitter Tyler Boyd cleared the bases with a triple, while shortstop D.J. Ruhlman brought home Boyd with an RBI single. Seton Hall first baseman Sal Annunziata continued to swing a hot bat by going 3-5 with 2 runs scored. Third baseman Kyle Grimm, catcher Dillon Hamlin, and Boyd all had 2 hits in the Pirates’ first win over a ranked team this season. Hamlin also contributed 2 RBI’s in the 9th on a triple off of Arizona pitcher Tyger Talley. The only run for Arizona came on an RBI single in the 5th by Jordan Berger. Sam Burum pitched a scoreless 9th for the Pirates who improved to 5-3 on the season, and Arizona fell to 6-3. The Pirates will be back in action March 1 against the same Arizona Wildcats, with LHP Anthony Elia (1-1) of the Pirates, squaring off against Arizona RHP Cody Hamlin (2-0) who is coming off a complete game against Alcorn State. After a sweep of Richmond, and a win over Arizona it looks like Seton Hall could be nationally ranked at some point this season, and is looking more and more like the front runners in a very competitive Big East Conference. Until next time, Hazard Zet Forward.
Newark
Fuquan & Pirates Banish Blue Demons
Lead by Senior Fuquan Edwin, the Seton Hall Pirates vanquished the DePaul Blue Demons in a bounce-back win Saturday night at the Prudential Center, by a final score of 86-69. After a heartbreaking one point loss at St. John’s University earlier in the week, Fuquan took to Twitter to with this promise to the fans:
We will bounce back #Shumbb
— Fuquan Edwin (@FuquanEdwin) January 24, 2014
And bounce back they did. The first half of the game was the Fuquan Edwin show, dropping 22 points on the lowly Blue Demons, who finished with 25 points at the half. Fuquan was a 3 pointer away from singlehandedly tying the score of the Blue Demons at halftime. While it was no doubt a mixture of DePaul’s incompetence and Fuquan’s brilliance, it’s a statistic that really puts the game into perspective. Finishing the game with 30 points, as well as adding another steal to his already school record, Fuquan kept his promise.
The Blue Demons haven’t been anywhere close to relevant in a long time, finishing dead last in the Big East standings every year since 2008. Seton Hall should never lose to DePaul, ever. Two seasons ago, the Pirates were a game away from virtually guaranteeing themselves an NCAA Tournament bid. All they needed was a win against against either DePaul or Rutgers. The Rutgers game is the classic rivalry, with there never being an easy win. DePaul on the other hand should have been an easy win. Sadly, then Freshman Jamee Crockett came off the bench, dropped 30 points and ended Seton Hall’s hopes of going dancing. Thankfully, the Pirates have not lost to DePaul since then, and Jamee Crockett has been serving an indefinite suspension. There was no one to stop the Pirates this time around.
The Pirates are now 3-4 in Big East play, good enough for fifth place in the conference. The Butler Bulldogs come to the Prudential Center this Wednesday, where the Pirates will look for their second straight win. As always, Hazard Zet Forward.
Blue Beard Army 